


That's What Friends Are For

by Comfort_Zone



Category: One Direction
Genre: Bondage, Friendship, Gang Tickling, Multi, Sequel, Tickle torture, Tickling, Ticklish Liam Payne, one direction - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-06
Updated: 2015-01-06
Packaged: 2018-03-06 07:22:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3125939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Comfort_Zone/pseuds/Comfort_Zone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam hasn't quite been himself in recent weeks and the boys band together to help their friend.</p><p>*Sequel to Bound to Talk*</p>
            </blockquote>





	That's What Friends Are For

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TylerM](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TylerM/gifts).



"All right everyone! Thanks for watching! We haven't done a twitcam in ages! Hope you enjoyed and we'll see you soon" Liam said as he and the boys shouted their goodbyes.

Liam stood up from the couch they were sitting on, in Liam's hotel room and shut down the Twitter feed. He was then grabbed from behind by Harry and dragged towards his bed. 

Liam started to struggle, but was soon overwhelmed by all four boys.

"Get off! What are you doing?! Stop this" Liam shouted as he was stripped down to his boxers and held down on the bed. Harry straddled his waist and held his arms above his head and spread apart, while Zayn and Niall held both his legs down.

Liam continued to struggle and shout, but the boys held firm. He then began to panic a little when he heard a clicking sound and the feeling of fur against his wrist made him shiver. 

"Tommo?! What the hell?" 

"Relax Payno" Louis said as he handcuffed Liam's other wrist to the bed post.

Harry, Niall and Zayn let go of Liam after Louis had secured his ankles to the bed, leaving Liam spread eagle and half naked.

"Let me go! Alright! Haha! You've had your fun! Get these off" Liam shouted as he pulled at his bonds.

"You aren't going anywhere Payno" Louis said.

"What is this?! This isn't funny!" Liam exclaimed as he looked at each of their faces.

"Well, neither is the way you've been acting" Zayn said cryptically as he turned away from Liam's prone body and retrieved a black bag from a table in the corner of the room before returning to stand near Liam's left foot. Louis stood near his right, Harry on his left near his upper body and Niall on his right.

"What do you mean?"

"We'll explain later Payno. Don't think you'd be honest or give a straight answer even if we talked about it now."

"Yeah. We'll have to work on you first" said Harry.

"Work on me?"

"Like Zayn worked on Louis a few weeks ago" Niall explained.

Liam's face took on a look of surprise before struggling anew. 

"Don't do this. It's not necessary---"

"It is Liam. Believe us. It is" Zayn said as he and the boys took their positions around Liam's body. He and Louis at his feet and Niall and Harry at his sides. The latter two men climbed onto the bed and lay down on either side of their captive.

"Don't---don't do t-this" Liam stammered as the boys lowered their fingers to his vulnerable body.

Liam gritted his teeth as his friends lightly ran their fingertips on his feet and torso. Louis and Zayn used both their hands to tickle Liam's large soles, never lingering in one spot for too long. They smiled as Liam's feet flailed in an attempt to escape their tickling touch. Niall and Harry, each using one hand, ran their fingers from Liam's armpits, passed his ribs and sides, to his waist. They did this in one smooth motion over and over. They then would spend a few short moments tickling Liam's armpits before continuing their downward journey on the bound man's ticklish torso.

Liam began shaking in his bonds as he tried to fight the laughter bubbling up inside him. His eyes were squeezed shut and he shook his head from side to side. The boys were relentless in their tickling. Steadily continuing on. Each of them knowing that it was only a matter of time before they broke through Liam's stubborn defenses.

They just had to be patient.

Liam grunted as he squirmed and flailed his feet, the constant scratching of his sensitive spots and the energy he was using to fight it, all beginning to wear him down.

Louis and Zayn had both used one of their hands to hold Liam's feet in place and continued to tickle with their other hand, his toes curling and his feet flexing under their touch. Niall and Harry were now using both their hands. They softly tickled his armpits and used their other hands to rake down the sides of his shaking torso. All of them exchanging looks as they heard a few giggles slip out of their captive friend. 

The four men continued their slow tickling. They never changed the pace or pressure of the tickles. It was like they wanted Liam to know that they could be just as stubborn as he is. 

Zayn and Louis had been focusing their tickles on the soles of Liam's feet. They'd been waiting for the right moment to extend their tickling to another spot and with an exchanged glance, they went for it. 

Never stopping the movement of their fingers on Liam's soles, they began to tickle upwards, just underneath his long toes, scratching lightly.

That did it.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHASTOPNONONONOSTOPITHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

All four men smiled as they finally broke through Liam's tough defenses. Once he started all out laughing they began to speed up their tickling, each man focusing on a particular spot. Harry and Niall focused on his armpits, while Louis and Zayn stayed at Liam's feet.

Harry poked and prodded Liam's right armpit. Using one finger, he switched between scratching and stroking figure eights all over the ticklish skin. By comparison, Niall was spidering all his fingers in Liam's left pit. His tickling was more frantic. He glided his fingers up and down, leaving no part of Liam's pit untouched. 

Liam's laughter came out in short barks and was interspersed with groans and grunts. He gritted his teeth and screwed his eyes shut. He was desperately trying to quell the steady stream of laughter that was fighting its way out of him, but the dam had already burst and their was only so much he could do to hold back. 

Liam could be so stubborn.

That's 'Daddy Direction' for you.

Liam felt the difference in their tickling. It kept him off balance and made it very difficult to quell the rising laughter that threatened to overwhelm him completely. If he thought about it, and he tried not to, Niall and Harry's tickling styles sort of represented their personalities. Harry's slow tickling, full of finesse, caused such strong sensations and was drawing such powerful ticklish reactions from him. Harry's charm and slow way of speaking drew people to him like bees to honey. Niall's tickling on the other hand, was more energetic. It lacked the finesse of Harry's tickling and was more blunt and straight to the point as he scrabbled all over. It was a lot like Niall. He was loud, would speak his mind and would be upfront about whatever he was feeling.

The two men on Liam's upper body continued their tickling of his armpits and placing their respective hands on his chest, slowly ran them down until they reached his tummy and began scratching at the taut skin. Liam's laughter continued to come out a little more freely in snerks and giggles, with him occasionally trying to stem the flow by biting his lips and gritting his teeth. 

Moving in sync, Niall and Harry lowered their mouths to the spot between Liam's ribs and his armpits and began blowing raspberries.

Liam squealed as their mouths vibrated against his skin with a few laughs following, but he still stubbornly clung to the belief that if he resisted long enough, his friends would tire of this game of theirs, untie him and leave him alone. 

Up until this point, Louis and Zayn had continued holding his foot with one hand and tickling with the other, though lightly so as not to distract from what the two men on Liam's torso were doing. They both also wanted to see how the bound man would react to the upper body tickles. Seeing that he was still so stubborn, they decided to up their game a bit.

Louis scratched against Liam's left heel while Zayn's fingers made their home in his right arch. Both men's fingers bit into the soft skin and they watched as Liam's feet flexed and his toes curled as they tickled.

The added tickling caused more laughter to pour out of Liam and yet he still fought. It was sort of like pushing a boulder into a rapidly flowing river, it might slow the water down a bit, but it would take much more to stop it. The boulder would eventually be overwhelmed by the continuous flow.

The four men continued their tickling, each of them wondering just how long Liam would be able to hold out and what it would take to break him down into a giggling mess. 

Louis then got an idea.

Taking a cue from Zayn's tickle attack on him, Louis began speaking.

"I don't know why you're being so stubborn Payno. You might as well just give in."

Zayn immediately caught on.

"Yeah. How long do you think you're going to last? This has to be driving you crazy."

"NO---HA---STOPIT---HAHA---DON'T-----SHUTIT----HAHAHA----SHUTUP--HAHAHA"

After one last raspberry, both Niall and Harry joined in as well.

"Tickle tickle Leemo" the blonde said. "We're going to get yooouuu. Come on and let us hear that great laugh of yours."

"You're so ticklish Liam. We just want to make you laugh" Harry cooed. "We know you want to give in. Cootchie Cootchie coo."

The four men kept up their teasing tickle talk as they relentlessly stroked their fingers over Liam's sensitive skin. They each grinned as Liam's resistance weakened more and more with every tickle and word spoken.

With one last "Cootchie coo" from Harry, Liam finally broke.

The bound man pushed his head back into his pillow, arched his body, pulled at his bonds and screamed in ticklish laughter. 

"AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

Having finally broken through Liam's defenses, the four men picked up their tickling. 

Harry was no longer simply stroking Liam's armpit. He was now using all of his fingers to dig into the soft skin. Niall, having moved down to focus on Liam's stomach, had freed up Liam's armpit and Harry happily dug into that one as well.

Niall danced his fingers over Liam's abs before digging in as well. He pinched at his abs and squeezed up and down his sides with glee. The blonde had enjoyed the squeals that he and Harry had been able to draw from Liam through their raspberries. So he lowered his mouth to the bound man's quivering tummy and began blowing them all over, before finally settling on his belly button.

Zayn was now tickling all over Liam's foot, increasing and decreasing pressure where needed. He stroked his arch and sole. He scratched at the heel and pressed into the ball of his foot and massaged in a circle. Zayn also fluttered his nails against the sensitive skin at the base of Liam's toes, laughing as they curled to try and trap his fingers and protect that spot. Zayn would pull his fingers free and focus on another spot until Liam's toes uncurled and he could tease the skin again.

Louis, however, was no longer focused on Liam's large foot. He was focused solely on his wiggling toes. Once he realized that the toes were an especially ticklish spot on Liam's foot, he knew where he wanted to really tickle. He scratched and scratched at the base of Liam's toes, not caring if they curled down trapping his fingers. He would simply wiggle and vibrate his fights until Liam could no longer take it. With great effort, or though it seemed, Liam would pull his toes back, only to expose them to more tickles. There was no protection against Louis' onslaught. The blue eyed man continued this game for a little longer before grabbing Liam's big toe, pulling it back gently and causing Liam's toes to spread. This new position left them very vulnerable to Louis' fingers and exposed yet another ticklish spot.

Right between his toes.

Louis hadn't payed attention to that spot until his finger slipped in between Liam's first and second toes while he'd been scratching just under the big toe. Liam shrieked and Louis smelled blood in the water. He at first used only one finger in each tiny crevice before using all of his fingers to tickle the extremely soft skin.

Noticing the reactions, Zayn abandoned the rest of Liam's foot, pulled his big toe back and tickled his long toes as well. While Louis scratched between, Zayn placed a finger between each toe and sawed them back and forth, occasionally wiggling, vibrating and sometimes even curling his own fingers into the nooks and crannies to tickle. 

"EEEEEEHEEEEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

Deciding to give Liam's armpits a rest, Harry instead focused his tickling on Liam's neck and ears. He smiled and cooed at Liam as he moved his head from side to side and scrunched his neck trying to avoid Harry's teasing touch. It was maddening.

Niall had also moved on from his spot at Liam's tummy. He was now straddling the bound man's waist and had begun to tickle his ribs. Massaging the muscled skin against his ribcage.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

Liam laughed, giggled and squealed as his various ticklish spots were exploited nonstop. Tears streamed down his red face as he uselessly tugged on his bonds. He was stuck tight and not going anywhere until these tickle fiends had enough and decided to set him loose. Liam shook in his bonds as his body was mercilessly teased. He felt like they were never going to stop and saw his vision beginning to fade.

The four men slowed their tickles before stopping completely.

Liam's wild laughter turned to giggles, before he finally quieted down and tried his best to catch his breath. He had a feeling they weren't done yet, but still hoped he could talk them into letting him go.

"Lads please---"

"Save your breath Payno. You're going to need it" Louis said.

"Aaw. Don't look like that Li" Harry said as he watched Liam's brow furrow and a pouty expression settle onto his face. 

Liam ignored the curly haired man and continued pouting.

Harry quirked an eyebrow as he reached up to tease Liam's armpit. He spidered his gingers across the skin and smirked as he watched Liam go from pouting to biting his bottom lip as he fought to keep from laughing.

Harry continued tickling, and Niall, not wanting to be left out, tickled Liam's other armpit. 

Despite his efforts, a smile forced its way onto to Liam's handsome face. He screwed his eyes shuts and once again fell into forced laughter.

"See? Isn't this so much better Leemo? Love it when you laugh. You're so much more relaxed."

"We should tickle you all the time" Harry said as he continued tickling.

"NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

"YES" they both said in unison. 

Zayn and Louis chuckled to themselves at the exchange and Liam's laughter. They had been busy searching through the black bag Zayn had brought over. It was filled with various tickling tools, some of which would be used on Liam. They just had to decide on which ones. There were nylon stockings, electric toothbrushes, baby oil, hairbrushes, feathers, q-tips, costume nails made of metal and gold in color, and other miscellaneous items.

Both men put the nylons on both of Liam's feet, encasing them in the soft, silky material. Zayn reached out and ran his finger along Liam's nylon covered sole, marveling at how it glided along the slick surface. The brown skinned man grinned as he was rewarded with a shriek as he tested the material on Liam's foot.

Louis and Zayn lowered their fingers to Liam's feet and began tickling. 

Liam arched in his bonds and pulled at the cuffs holding his ankles. The tickles sent electric shocks up his legs, along his spine and exploded in his brain. His feet were already sensitive, but the nylons seemed to make them even more sensitive to his captors tickling touches (though he was sure his bare feet were still more ticklish). The two men tickled from heels to toes and back again, adding to the armpit tickles he was receiving from Harry and Niall.

The bound man laughed and giggled before letting out a massive scream before falling back into hysterical laughter. Zayn and Louis had picked up the hairbrushes and we're now scrubbing his nylon clad soles with them. They brushed vigorously, relishing in the uncontrollable laughter they were forcing out of their friend. 

"EEEEEEEYAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

Niall and Harry had stopped their tickling and made their way to the end of the bed to take a look at the tickling tools available. Niall grabbed the electric toothbrushes and Harry picked up the feathers. They then returned to Liam's vulnerable upper body, watching in amazement as he struggled in his bondage and laughed hysterically.

They both took their positions on either side of Liam and slowly lowered their tools to his ticklish skin. Harry teased Liam's neck, ears, nose and armpits with the wispy orange feathers and Niall tickled his ribs, belly and navel with the electric toothbrushes. 

Liam's laughter somehow managed to increase with the added tickling from Harry and Niall. He cackled and shivered as Harry teased his sensitive face with the feathers. He dusted around his ears and neck. He took the very tip of the feather and teased Liam's nostrils with them. Liam laughing and huffing air out of his nose in an attempt to make it stop, the lingering touch of the feathers was driving him crazy. 

Giggling, Harry then turned the feathers around and lowered them into Liam's armpits, and using the pointed ends, scratched at the skin.

Niall, having picked up two electric toothbrushes, turned them on and lowered them to Liam's ribcage. The bound man arched and heaved in his bonds to the point where Niall was forced to straddle his waist in order to keep him somewhat under control. The blonde moved the toothbrushes in small circles along and between his ribs, before brushing his sides and then settling on his flat tummy. He brushed each ab and along the ridges, smiling as Liam laughed and tried his best to buck Niall and those awful tooth brushes off his quivering body. Niall brushed along the expanse of muscled skin before moving both of the toothbrushes into his navel, brushing the edge before pushing them deep inside the little pocket.

"EEEEEEEEHAHAHAHAHAHANONONOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAHAHAHAHA"

Liam screeched and guffawed as his feet, armpits and navel were assaulted with feathers and brushes. He shook his head from side to side and laughed his head off.

After a while, Zayn and Louis finally pulled the brushes away. The nylons, once shiny and brand new, we're now shredded and full of holes. The two men gave Liam's feet a few teasing tickles by scratching along the part of the nylons that were still in tact and occasionally snaking their fingers inside the holes and tickling the bare skin of his large soles.

They did this for a few moments before ripping the nylons from his soles completely. Louis grabbed the baby oil, poured some into his and Zayn's hands and the both of them rubbed it into Liam's bare feet, making sure to cover every inch. Once his soles were glistening with the oil, they picked up the brushes and began their scrubbing all over again.

Liam's eyes nearly popped out of his head and he howled in laughter as those horrible brushes tickled his bare feet. He had been right, the nylons enhanced the tickling sensations, but his bare feet were far more ticklish. His mouth was wide open in a tortured smile as laugh after laugh was forced from him.

Niall and Harry once again returned to the end of the bed. They put down their tickling tools. Harry then picked up the baby oil and Niall picked up a q-tip from a packet, before returning to their places at Liam's upper body. Niall was straddling him and Harry was on his knees on Liam's right side. The curly haired man popped the cap and drizzled the bay oil all over the bound man's chest. He then passed the bottle to Niall and rubbed the oil into Liam's armpits and flushed skin. Niall poured the baby oil onto Liam's stomach, making sure to fill his navel with the substance as well, before putting the bottle on the night stand.

Harry placed his hands on Liam's armpits and rapidly tickled. His fingers gliding around smoothly thanks to the baby oil. Niall placed the q-tip into Liam's navel and swirled the q-tip around and around, making sure to brush the sides with every go round.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIYAAAAAAHAAAAAAAHAAA"

Liam whooped and hollered between frantic laughter. He tried to buck Niall off, shake Harry's nimble fingers out of his pits and pull his feet away from the brushes scraping away at his soft feet. This entire ordeal was driving him crazy. This wasn't his first time being tickled by his mates, but never to this extreme. He hated the fact that he had no control over the situation. He was the one that would always take charge, handling the rough spots in their career, or any situation really, so his boys wouldn't have to. 

This experience was something new. The boys may have held him down and tickled him for a few minutes here and there, but he'd never been tied up and tickled so savagely. He was completely out of control; of the situation and his reactions. It was a different feeling. Something he wasn't used to, but he really had no choice in the matter. All he could was laugh nonstop as he was tickled and tickled.

Zayn and Louis pulled the brushes away and picked up the feathers. They grabbed Liam's big toes and sawed the feathers back and forth in between each toe. They laughed as Liam's frantic belly laughs were replaced with squeals and squeaks as he breathlessly laughed.

Harry was no longer scribbling his fingers, but instead was pressing them into the center of Liam's armpits. Digging into the devastating ticklish spot with glee. Niall had abandoned the q-tip and was now tickling Liam's slick ribs, sides and tummy with deep massaging tickles.

"EEEEEEYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHEEEEEEEEEEAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

Liam wheezed through his laughter. He still futilely pulled at his bonds, though at this point it was more of a reflex than anything else. He slammed his head into his pillow repeatedly, as though he were trying to distract himself from the ticklish sensations racking his body. The prolonged tickling had severely weakened Liam. He could no longer attempt to shake Harry and Niall loose. All his energy seemed to have been redirected from his attempts at getting away & resisting the torture to the forcing of frantic squealing laughter from his body. 

Liam was a quivering mass of ticklish flesh. He was putty in their hands and under their complete control.

And they still weren't done with him.

Zayn and Louis twirled the feathers between Liam's toes for a little while longer before placing them on the floor. They each picked up five of the costume metal nails and examined them. They were gold, with circular shapes in which to fit fingers and the circular parts each had a small button on the sides. The metal then tapered forward, like real nails, ending, after about, an inch, into a rounded point. There were no sharp points, so Liam wouldn't be harmed. They placed each one of the nails on the fingers of their right hands. Both men held their hands up to admire the nails as they glinted in the artificial light of the lamps in Liam's hotel room.

Zayn reached out and quickly dragged his pointer finger up Liam's sole. He jumped back in surprise when Liam let out a loud squeal between the laughter that Harry and Niall kept him in despite Zayn and Louis having stopped temporarily.

Louis and Zayn placed their left hands on top of Liam's feet to keep them steady and lowered their metal tipped fingers to his twitching soles and began scratching all over.

Liam screeched in laughter and began bouncing on the bed with renewed vigor. He thought all his energy had been sapped away, but his tormentors proved him wrong.  
Those nails were terrible. They were even worse than the brushes. Zayn spidered his fingers in Liam's arch and Louis' transformed fingers made a home at the base of Liam's long toes.

While all this was going on, Niall had climbed down off the bed to retrieve the electronic toothbrushes. He handed one to Harry, but neither man decided to use them right away and continued tickling with their hands. Niall focused on kneading Liam's sides while Harry gave Liam's ears and neck a lot of teasing tickles.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHEEEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEEE"

Liam cackled and snorted as he was continuously tickled. 

The tickling continued in this vein for quite some time, until Zayn and Louis pulled their fingers away. Niall and Harry slowed their tickles to give Liam a bit of a breather. They weren't done with him and didn't want him to pass out and miss all the fun. Liam giggled breathlessly thanks to their caressing tickles.

Zayn and Louis pressed the buttons on each of their nails, listening as they hummed to life and vibrated. Believing that they had given Liam enough of a break, they retook their positions, one hand on each of Liam's feet and lowered their vibrating fingers to his tingling soles.

Niall and Harry lay back down into their positions at Liam's side. They each used one hand to hold Liam's arms, to try and keep him still. Grabbing the toothbrushes, they turned them on and brought them down into Liam's sensitive hollows.

Liam's eyes bulged and his mouth opened in a silent scream. He arched in his bonds for a few moments before falling back against the bed and laughing hysterically. He shook his head from side to side and slammed his head into the pillow. It was really the only thing he could do besides laugh.

The brushes in his armpits tickled like crazy. Harry and Niall brushed the expanse of Liam's slick armpits, enthralled in the reactions they were pulling from Liam as they moved the brushes all over.

Zayn and Louis once again tickled their chosen spots by scratching the nails against them before deciding to simply settling into those areas and pressing the vibrating nails against them. Liam's arches and toes were arguably the most sensitive spots on his feet and both men made sure to take full advantage.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

All four men tickled and tickled until Liam could no longer struggle against them. He simply lay on the bed as he was tickle tortured. His desperate laughter eventually became silent and his body convulsed with each vibrating, tickling stroke. 

Despite Liam's tortured reactions and red, tear stained face, they continued to tickle until it looked as though he was going to pass out. They slowed their tickles before stopping all together.

Liam continued to laugh silently, before gaining some of his breath back and laughed noisily until it eventually tapered off into hoarse giggling.

The four men gathered up their tickling tools and placed them back into the bag. Louis, Niall and Harry released Liam from his bonds, rubbing the feeling back into his wrists and ankles, while Zayn went into the bathroom, filled up a glass of water and returned, placing it on the night stand. 

They waited until Liam calmed down and caught his breath before Louis and Zayn propped up some pillows and gently helped Liam into a sitting position, both men flanking each side of him. Zayn then handed Liam the glass of water and watched as he drank it greedily. Once finished, he thanked Zayn, some of the hoarseness in his voice gone, and handed the glass back to him.

Liam glanced at each of his friends, a light blush creeping onto his cheeks as he looked down at his folded hands as they sat in his lap.

The four men glanced at each other with worried expressions, each wondering if they'd pushed Liam to far. 

"Hey" Zayn said softly as he gently touched Liam's arm to get his attention. "Alright there?"

Liam nodded the affirmative, but the slight pout on his face said different. 

"We're sorry Li" Harry said from his spot at the end of the bed. Niall next to him.

"Yeah. Sorry Leemo. We just wanted you to relax a little. Well, a lot. You've been so uptight lately."

"Yeah. More than usual" said Louis. "You've been stressed out. Trying to do everything yourself."

"You've been moody and a right grump as well" Zayn added as he carded his fingers through Liam's soft hair.

"Trying to shield us from certain things. We appreciate it. Don't get us wrong, but you can't do everything on your own Li" Harry said.

"We're in this together mate" Niall said "We have to look out for each other. You don't have to do it alone."

Liam's pouting lips turned upwards into a grin.

"You don't play with us when you're grumpy. So we decided to get you to open up to us" Louis stated as he reached out to pinch Liam's nipple, cackling as Liam swatted his hand away. 

"We knew you wouldn't want to hear what we had to say and since it worked on Louis.."

"You thought it would work on me too" Liam finished. "Sorry for the way I've been---"

"Uh uh. No apologies from you Payno" Louis said as he tried to get at Liam's nipples again, with Liam trying to cover his nipples with one hand and fend Louis off with the other.

"So, no more trying to take everything on by yourself?" asked Zayn. "If you start getting grumpy again we'll have to tickle you" he finished as he gave Liam's side a quick pinch. He laughed as Liam's giggle turned into a squawk of indignation as Louis got his nipple again.

"Okay---hahaha---Louis No!----get away"

"Maybe we should let him be grumpy again. I had fun tickling him" Harry said as he dragged his fingers along Liam's foot, watching as he pulled his knees up to get away.

"Yeah" agreed Niall. "As a matter of fact, he still looks a bit grumpy to me" he finished as he crawled towards Liam, Harry following suit.

"No---ohno---hahahahaha"

Liam curled in on himself and giggled as they came closer. He continued pushing Louis away, though his movements were uncoordinated since Zayn kept pinching his sides. 

Next thing he knew, he was laying flat on his back, no bondage this time, as the boys playfully tickled him. Their hands were everywhere. He tried to bat them away, but couldn't fight them all. Someone, he want sure who, had grabbed his wrists and the tickling really increased. 

"I think we'll have to do this on a weekly basis. Being in this business can be incredibly stressful" Zayn said and they all agreed.

They continued tickling as Liam laughed and giggled, trying every so often to get away, only to be pulled back down into the tickling clutches of his mates.

"Someone as ticklish as Liam may need stronger treatment. I think we should do this daily. It's the only way to help him" Zayn said somberly even though he had a massive grin on his face.

Liam's laughter and the boys taunting could be heard throughout the night. 

They had a hard time explaining to Paul why they were three hours late for their appointment the next morning.

Though Louis and Zayn did try to explaining by saying that Liam had been tied up and they needed to help him with a few things. All the while giggling as Liam blushed.

Paul merely raised an eyebrow, shook his head and walked away.

He learned a long time ago not to ask questions.


End file.
